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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29815056">Stay in the Car!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingToKeepMySanity/pseuds/WritingToKeepMySanity'>WritingToKeepMySanity</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Crime Fighting, Fist Fights, Fluff, Gen, Negaduck destroys a bridge and other SC landmarks, don't tell Gosalyn to stay in the car, dumb idea that wouldn't leave me alone, she can do just as much damage inside the car</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:13:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29815056</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingToKeepMySanity/pseuds/WritingToKeepMySanity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Negaduck takes out the Audubon Bay Bridge in the middle of the day, Drake fights the villain as a civilian. But there's something unnervingly familiar about Negaduck. </p><p>Like...freakishly so. Like maybe they met on the set of <em>First Darkness</em> and Negaduck tried to kill him in retaliation for stealing his once famous role, and ultimately died in the resulting studio fire. </p><p>But. That's crazy. </p><p>Right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Drake Mallard &amp; Gosalyn Mallard &amp; Launchpad McQuack</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Stay in the Car!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just a silly little idea I had that began and ended with Gosalyn hitting a bad guy with a car. The rest just kinda happened. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They’re driving across the Audubon Bay Bridge when the structure rocks with an explosion, causing Drake to swerve to avoid hitting the car in front of him.</p><p>“Whoa!” Gosalyn yelps from the backseat.</p><p>“What the—?”</p><p>Launchpad shakes his head. “That wasn’t my crash, I dunno.”</p><p>Around them, people are getting out of their cars, looking toward the source of the explosion. Drake and LP do the same.</p><p>“Hey! Turn off the child locks!” Gosalyn says, rattling the back door. “What do you think I’m gonna do, fall out in the middle of the road? I literally ride in the motorcycle every night.”</p><p>“Gos, stay there,” Drake says absently, narrowing his eyes when he sees a figure moving in the smoke. “Launchpad, do you see that?”</p><p>“Yeah, DW. What d’you think it is?”</p><p>Another shock ripples through the bridge, causing everyone standing outside their car to stumble, and Drake sees a flash of a cape before the smoke thickens.</p><p>
  <em>Cape? The only other person who wore a cape in St. Canard was…</em>
</p><p>“Negaduck,” he says, and LP shoots him a wide-eyed look.</p><p>He and Launchpad had been chasing this guy’s breadcrumbs of destruction for the last few weeks; some bank safes robbed, the sides of buildings blown out, fires and bombs and call outs specifically for Darkwing to find him, but they never did.</p><p>This is the closest they ever been. And he’s just <em>Drake Mallard</em>.</p><p>But it’s their only shot.</p><p>“Gosalyn, stay in the car!” Drake says, slamming the door behind him, making a decision. A terrible decision, maybe, but he can’t do nothing.  </p><p>She sticks her head out the window after them. “But—!”</p><p>“I mean it!”</p><p>“Dad!”</p><p>“<em>In the car, Gos</em>!” he yells back, and he and Launchpad take off down the bridge.</p><p>It’s easier said than done, the roads packed bumper-to-bumper with cars and pedestrians stumbling with each aftershock and flaming pieces of the bridge blocking their way.</p><p>“What’s the plan, DW?” Launchpad asks, leaping over a chunk of rubble.</p><p>“I’m not sure, Launchpad. This is a very poorly thought-out plan!” He doesn’t have his gas gun, the Kevlar vest, or his mask.</p><p>This…is worse than poorly thought-out.</p><p>Drake slaps his wrist communicator, sending an S.O.S. to Fenton. He’d get word to Officer Cabrera, who’d get word to the SCPD faster than the phone lines.</p><p>And if Gizmoduck wants to help, then <em>maybe</em> his ego can let that happen.</p><p>They leap over a missing piece of bridge, clearing the last of the smoke, and come face-to-face with the villain in yellow.</p><p>Negaduck sneers when the approach him. “What’s this? A little hero?”</p><p>“Give up, Negaduck!” Drake says with all the bravado and swagger that normally comes with the cape.</p><p>Something akin to recognition washes over Negaduck’s face for a half-second before his features even out into a snarl again and Drake doesn’t have time to think about it. “Who’s gonna make me?”</p><p>Drake likes to think he’s a pretty levelheaded duck, doesn’t just jump bill-first into danger—most of the time—makes sure he observes as many options as he can to form a strategy.</p><p>All of that flies out of his head, and he throws himself at Negaduck instead.</p><p>Luckily, the move at least confuses Negaduck long enough to tackle him to the ground and gives Drake time to land at least one solid punch to the side of Negaduck’s face.</p><p>That’s all he gets in before he feels two feet plant against his stomach and he’s airborne, kicked off and away from the villain.</p><p>Wiping a trickle of blood from his chin with the back of his hand, Negaduck grins wickedly, standing. "Not bad, kid. Wanna join the big leagues now?"</p><p>Before Drake can respond, Negaduck launches himself at him, and his mind switches to autopilot, like it does on patrol and all he's focused on is hurting the bad guy and making sure the bad guy doesn't hurt him. </p><p>There’s something…familiar about how Negaduck fights, like it’s a dance he’s been in before, the way they dodge and weave and throw mirror punches at each other.</p><p>He even mostly ignores Launchpad, focusing his attack on Drake, forcing LP to dance around the edge of the fight, doing his best to distract Negaduck.</p><p>"Hey, Negaduck!" he shouts, throwing a chunk of asphalt at his head from behind. </p><p>Impossibly, Negaduck whirls around, ducking, with a flourish of his cape and a flick of his wrist and a knife from nowhere throws itself at Launchpad as the rock sails harmlessly over the villain's head and narrowly misses Drake. The knife slashes Launchpad's jacket, but—thankfully—he doesn't see blood. </p><p>And then Negaduck raises a chainsaw over his head—<em>where</em> did he get that?—and says something Drake only hears in his nightmares.</p><p>“You’re dead meat…duck,” he growls, and the words hit Drake like bucket of cold water.</p><p>He’s been called that, in that voice, before. The last person to say those words had a look just like Negaduck did in his eyes, though maybe not quite as intense, as he almost killed Drake in a studio explosion.</p><p>But Jim Starling’s dead.</p><p>Isn’t he?</p><p>Drake’s frozen for a beat too long, and Negaduck swings the chainsaw. If not for Launchpad’s quick thinking, and the hand fisted in the back of his shirt, he would’ve been sliced in half.</p><p>LP drags him behind a fallen suspension beam. Above them, there’s a whir of copter blades and Drake sees Fenton, in full-Gizmoduck armor, taking in the situation from the air.</p><p>“Drake, what’s the matter?” Launchpad asks. “Why’d you freeze up like that?”</p><p>He almost can’t put it into words, what he’s thinking. It’d make it real, and making it real would make it… well, he doesn’t really want to go down that rabbit hole. “Launchpad, I might be crazy, but…is there something familiar about how Negaduck fights?” he asks.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Remember when we met?”</p><p>Launchpad narrows his eyes a little, cocking his head. “You sayin’ he fights like me?”</p><p>Drake’s finger’s flex, and he resists the urge to slap a hand over his eyes. “No, LP. Remember who else we fought that day?”</p><p>Eyes widening, LP stutters, “You mean…Jim? But he…didn’t he?”</p><p>“That’s why it’s crazy!”</p><p>The chainsaw revs behind them, followed by an awful scraping noise, as though Negaduck allowed it to drag along the asphalt. “C’mon out, <em>kid</em>,” he growls. “You wanted to play the hero, right? Here’s your chance.”</p><p>That…could mean anything, right? He ran into an explosion to fight a known villain, that doesn’t mean it’s Jim, who knows Drake, who became Darkwing.</p><p>He shakes his head. “Okay, worry about Negaduck’s impossible possible secret identity later. We need to finish this.”</p><p>In unison, they leap to their feet, fists raised, and Negaduck’s sneer widens into a twisted grimace of a smile.</p><p>Then, out of nowhere, Drake’s car slams into him, throwing him off the bridge.</p><p>Drake and Launchpad freeze, staring at the spot where Negaduck—Jim?—had been standing moments ago.</p><p>Gosalyn sticks her head out of the driver’s side window, whooping. “Give it up, Negadope! You’ve been outclassed by the Crimson Quackette!”</p><p>“Gosalyn!” Drake squawks, all thoughts of Negaduck and Jim Starling flying out of his head. “What did I say?!”</p><p>“I stayed in the car!” she protests, even as the car lurches forward. “Whoa! How do you stop?”</p><p>He leaps around the car, yanking open the door and sliding in so he’s half-sitting next to Gosalyn. He slams his foot on the brake, putting the car in park. “Where did you even learn to drive?” he asks, only breathing again once the car is stopped.</p><p>“I didn’t. I’m ten,” she says, matter-of-factly, climbing over him to crawl out of the car. “I learned how to crash.”</p><p>Launchpad gives her a high-five. “That’s my girl.”</p><p>“No, no,” Drake says, shaking his head. “Do not encourage her.” </p><p> </p><p>~*~</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>HEADLINE: </em></strong>NEGADUCK BLOWS UP AUDUBON BAY BRIDGE. VILLAIN STILL AT LARGE. GIZMODUCK ON SCENE TO HELP SCPD AND DPD WITH CROWD CONTROL.</p><p>…</p><p>“<em>Seriously</em>? <em>Gizmoduck</em>? I’m the one who actually fought Negaduck!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'd love to know what you think! come say hi on tumblr! @wordshakerofgallifrey</p><p>xx</p></blockquote></div></div>
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